Anto800 wrote:it's good to read positive reviews and even negative reviews.
Hello Mario,
Yes, indeed. I was just a little concerned about the "tone" of your post. Let's chalk it up to "language differences" and there let it be.
> but have you ever heard an Antegnati live?
This sounded like a "challenge". No, actually not. I have heard lots of good recordings, though, and the sound quality is typically not to my taste.
> The Bellinzona extensions have nothing to do with a "normal Italian organ", it is an almost surreal sample set.
As it happens, I REALLY LIKE "surreal"!
> Antegnati did not manufacture organs with reeds...
That's fine too. The Bellinzona instrument has been re-worked by many hands through the centuries. While a solid core of "Antegnati" remains, the over-all impression now is very different unless you restrict yourself to playing only those original stops remaining... basically the Principal Chorus. The reeds have been added by others, and I really enjoy them.
> It would also be very nice if you could share the reasons why you like this instrument, perhaps clarifying why two sample sets (Bellinzona and Piacenza both instruments of the Italian Romantic period, not Antegnati...) the first one arouses your interest and the second does not.
Fair enough. I like it because it is rich and bright and full, and can give a wide variety of satisfying sounds. A pleasing development built on a solid historic core of early Italian character.
You mentioned some other sample sets for comparison. Now that we are "naming names", here goes...
I find the Naxxar set from Malta to be thin and flat in character, with no sense at all of "spatial presence"... which is very important to me on my particular Sound System. Nothing against the original Organ (which everybody agrees the Sample Set does not sound like), or against any of the Producers... who have done other good work and will no doubt continue to improve in quality as their respective Projects continue.
I find the San Carlo set by SP to be thin, overly-bright, again lacking in richness and spatial presence. Perhaps it is true to the original, I do not know, but I do not personally enjoy playing on it.
> the fantastic Piacenza by Sonus Paradisi: It costs 3 times as much, but it is also sampled on 3 levels, with a quality and fidelity that few can achieve.
Now HERE we are in full agreement! The Piacenza Organ is TRULY "surreal", with a rich and wonderful Spatial Presence and an amazing variety of beautiful sounds. It ranks as one of my very favourite Sample Sets overall, and is a masterpiece both of Organ Building and of Sample Set production.
Wherever the Bellinzona Organ departs from the original Antegnati, it is moving strongly in the direction of the Piacenza! When Padre Davide da Bergamo was designing that Organ... perhaps he was inspired by what had been done so effectively with the Organ of Bellinzona!
In selecting Sample Sets for personal use, we must bear in mind all our personal taste and preference, and also consider how it all works out on our own particular Sound System. An organ that sounds great on one Sound System may fail on another, and vice versa.
So we can all enjoy the Organs that we like, according to our own Taste and Preference... while learning about the ideas of others by reading free discussions... both positive and negative. And allow the same freedom for all others.